


Earn Your Dessert

by Madalena



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 16:52:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7181186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madalena/pseuds/Madalena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Storybrooke has not been kind to Robin's waistline, so Regina takes him to the gym for the first time.</p>
<p>Pure fluff. No ridiculous plotlines or story arcs. Just fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Earn Your Dessert

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Killian Meets Modernity](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3445217) by [SnappleApple11](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnappleApple11/pseuds/SnappleApple11). 



> I need fluff. Badly. I wrote this a long time ago, it was intended to be part of a series that never got off the ground, but I pulled it out of obscurity to read since I needed more fluff in my life and decided to post it as a standalone.
> 
> Vaguely inspired by SnappleApple11's "Killian Meets Modernity" series, since Robin is also meeting modernity, but I wrote this before I read the "Gym" chapter. But they fit together well, so I guess you can consider this OutlawQueen ficlet an unauthorized sequel to it ;)

“I am NOT fat!” Robin insisted one morning in the kitchen, as Regina poked at his belly.

“I didn’t say you were fat. I said you were gaining fat. There’s a difference.”

“One leads to the other, milady.”

“It can. You’re not used to the decadent foods of this world, and you’re a lot less active then you were in the Enchanted Forest. These things add up. You need to start watching your weight.”

“If you stopped preparing such delicious meals, perhaps I would.” He countered. “But if you feed us such rich fare, who am I to refuse the cooking of the woman I love?”

“Then you need to stay active as well.” She chided. “Since moving in here, instead of spending your afternoons on the hunt in the forest with your men, you’ve spent them in front of the television playing video games.”

“Just learning the marvels of this world.”

“Then it is time I introduce you to another one of its marvels - the gym.”

“The gym, milady?”

“You think I eat meals with you every night, including dessert, and then just look like this naturally?” She asked, waving her hand to indicate her body.

“Don’t you?” He asked innocently.

“No. A lot of work goes into this. If we’re chasing monsters, then that will typically take care of things, especially if we drop into a different world for a few weeks. But while I’m here in Storybrooke, and things are calm, then I go to the gym. Tomorrow you will come with me.”

“To this… gym.”

“Yes. Don’t worry. It is not nearly as complicated as video games or smartphones. You’ll catch on pretty quickly.”

“If you say so, milady.”

* * *

And so it was that the next day, after Regina finished at the mayor’s office, she went by the sheriff’s station to pick up the relatively newly deputized deputy Robin. She drove them to a part of town he had not spent much time in, and parked behind the No Three Pigs Here Gym.

“Is that supposed to be motivational?” Robin asked, looking at the sign. “And a take on the nursery rhyme?”

“Do you expect something else in a town full of fairytale characters?” Regina asked. “We’ll play with all of the puns we can get.” She hauled two duffel bags out of the trunk. “This is my bag. This other one is yours. I bought you a gym outfit, so you will want to change into that first after we get you registered.”

Obediently, Robin followed Regina in the door, where they were met with the front desk of what seemed part hospital, part health food cafe.

“Regina!” The young woman at the desk said. “Good to see you again. And you’ve brought Robin?”

“Yes. He will be registering as a new member of the gym, Elsie. Same address as mine, charge the fees to me as well.”

“Robin Hood.” Robin said to the girl, who was writing down his information. “Or Robin of Locksley. Does it matter?”

“Not really.” Elsie said, shaking back her blonde curls. “Now sign here.” Robin did as he was asked.

“Well, straight through there then. Regina, will you be giving him the safety orientation? We do have a special pamphlet put together for new arrivals, though few of them have shown up here. I guess they don’t really know what this place is all about.”

“They don’t. That’s why I’ve brought Robin here. Maybe he can inspire more people to start coming.”

“Definitely a good idea! Will you be staying for the class at 6?”

“Absolutely.”

Regina and Robin entered the hallway behind the counter, and she pointed him to the mens’ locker room. “You change your clothes there. Then go through the door on the other side and I will meet you there.”

“Yes, milady.”

Regina changed quickly, tying her hair back in a simple braid and putting on a headband. She wore simple running shoes with her tight black capris and white gym tank top.

She headed out to the gym, starting her stretching routine on the mats near the locker room doors while waiting for Robin. She was hoping that after showing him some of the gym machines that he would join her for the Zumba class.

Robin emerged from the changing room and stopped short as he took in the room.

“I thought we were going to something you called a gym, but this looks like a torture chamber, milady.”

Regina straightened up from her stretch and took him by the hand. “This is not a torture chamber. This is a gym.”

“What in the world are those machines doing to them?”

“The machines aren’t doing anything. The people are. Look, these machines over here are weight machines. They help specific muscle groups get a good workout.”

“A workout.”

“Yes. That’s why we’re here. So that you can get some exercise, and use your muscles. That’s what a workout is. Working your muscles. So the most important thing is to be safe, so you need to read these descriptions of each machine before you use them, making sure you understand everything. I’ll help you with some of them. But before we get to the weight machines, we’ll do some cardio first.”

“Cardio?”

“Aerobic exercise, to get your blood pumping and your energy moving. There are several different machines over here - treadmills, ellipticals, step climbers, stationary bicycles.”

“I do know what a bicycle is. But why isn’t it moving around?”

“Because we’re in a relatively small room.”

“I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just go ride outside then.”

“Would you want to do that in the rain? Or the snow? A stationary bicycle you can use at any time of the year, day or night, and it is perfectly safe.”

“Fair enough. But what is the point of these other machines? People are running on this… this… tread…”

“Treadmill.”

“… treadmill, but why don’t they run outside? It is a beautiful day out there.”

“It might be today, but it isn’t always. And some people aren’t used to the woods like you are, they’re not comfortable out there, especially if there are wicked witches or ice monsters threatening them. A lot of people have been scared off.”

“So you expect me to use these things? I’m not scared of the woods.”

“You’re not. But I also don’t see you running in them.”

“Touche. All right. So I’ll use one of these blasted things and then you’ll show me how this weightlifting works?”

“That’s right. And save some energy, because we’ll be doing a class with some other people later.”

“A class?”

“You’ll see.”

Regina stepped up onto an elliptical, and got Robin set up on a treadmill, where he was able to keep a fairly good steady jog pace - though she did note, not as fast as she’d seen him run back in the Enchanted Forest. She was right - he did need more exercise in his daily routine.

After awhile, they stepped down from their machines and headed over to the weight machines, where Regina demonstrated how to use them, and then also showed some exercises with the free weights. As she straightened up from one of these demonstrations, she saw the look on Robin’s face as he was appraising her rear.

“Focus, thief.” She said.

Robin blinked his eyes. “I’m sorry?”

“Focus on the exercises.”

“I couldn’t help but focus on your shapely bum.”

“It doesn’t stay that way with magic. Now come on, pick up some weights and do what I do.”

“As you wish, milady.”

Robin worked through the weight exercises that Regina demonstrated to him, and by the end he was sweating.

“Are we nearly finished, milady?”

“Almost.” Regina said. “Now it is almost 6pm, so the Zumba class is about to start.”

“What on earth is Zumba?”

Regina didn’t say anything and just led him into the class room on the other side of the gym. Most of the students had already gathered.

“Oy, mate!” Will Scarlet said, coming over and clapping Robin on the shoulder. “Your lady put you up to this then?”

“I don’t even know what I’m getting into.”

“It’s a right bit of fun. If you’re all right with being one of the only blokes in the class. There’s me and there’s Killian over there, he’s been coming for a long time with his bird, he has.”

Robin looked over at the pirate, who was conversing with Emma, and saw that he was also attired in these gym clothes - black sweatpants and a black tank top, not the leather he was accustomed to. Killian saw him and stopped his conversation with Emma, coming over to join Regina, Will and Robin.

“Look who else has been dragged in here.” Killian said, grinning. “Welcome to the torture chamber, mate.”

“That’s what I said when I first came in here.” Robin said. “Every day I think I understand this realm a bit better, and then something happens to throw it off.”

“First time Emma brought me here I damn well near killed myself on one of those treadmills.”

Emma came over to join them. She looked at Regina. “So, you think Robin is ready for this?”

“He’s going to have to be.” Regina grinned evilly.

“What is this?” Robin asked. “Still no one will tell me.”

Elsie walked in the room, her curls tied back in a loose braid. She turned the music on. “Okay, let’s get started!”

Everyone in the room started organizing themselves into neatly spaced lines, and Regina pulled Robin into place beside her.

“I don’t know what I’m doing, love. I have no idea what’s about to happen.” Robin whispered in a panicked voice.

“Don’t worry.” Regina said. “Just let the music move you. Try and follow what Elsie does. Just don’t step on anyone else. The point of this is to move and to have fun at the same time.”

The music changed, and everyone in the class started following the same steps that Elsie was making at the front of the room. Robin tried to keep up, and worked desperately to not run into Regina on his left or Will on his right. After a few minutes, he noticed that the movements kept repeating themselves in a given sequence, and by the time the first song had ended, he was beginning to anticipate their sequence.

Then the next song started, and he was lost all over again, but he concentrated on the movement of Elsie’s body - probably the only time that his love was asking him to stare intently at the body of another woman, though he had to say he did prefer Regina’s curves to Elsie’s skinnier frame - and tried to match his movements to hers.

After a few songs, he was dashing for his water bottle to rehydrate, hoping that he would last this class. He saw that Will and Killian weren’t having any difficulty, and he was determined to not be beat by the younger men. He glanced at Regina as she chatted with Emma, watching the sheen of sweat on her forehead and dripping between her breasts. He licked his lips, trying to refocus on the class rather than the beauty he would be going home with, but it was not easy.

While the class did go on for longer than Robin was comfortable, he could at least claim to having survived it. Once it was over and they went through their cooldown stretch, however, Robin collapsed onto the floor and lay back on it, trying to absorb some coolness from the hard floor.

“You okay there, mate?” Killian asked with a smile.

“I’ll live. Possibly.”

“Come on.” Killian held out his hand and helped the thief to his feet. Robin was a bit unnerved by seeing the handless wrist where Killian’s other hand should have been, where he was used to seeing a hook, but he supposed that a hook might not exactly be safe for this… Zumba.

Robin groaned as he got to his feet, and then walked over to Emma and Regina.

“So, milady, do I pass your first day at the gym test?”

“I suppose you do.” Regina smiled. “A little worse for wear, but you’ll get used to it. Tomorrow we’ll do this again.”

“Again? Tomorrow?”

“That’s right, thief. If you want to keep eating my desserts, you’ll be here with me at least four days a week.”

Robin sighed and followed Regina out of the room, saying goodbye to Killian, Emma and Will. Regina’s desserts were worth it, he had to admit. But he did feel he deserved an extra scoop of ice cream with his apple pie this evening.


End file.
